Title: Pulling Strings

Author: Kathea

Rating: PG13 or it will be at some point

Spoilers: "But not as cute as Pushkin"

Summary: Since both Rory and Logan come from money they are used to seeing strings pulled. They never thought their friends would use it against them.

Disclaimer: I don't own this or anything related to Gilmore Girls or the WB. Like you didn't already know that.

Reviews: First, everyone gets a cookie because everyone knew my reference. Yea for you. I'll make the next one harder. During the seven years I lived in South Carolina I think I watched GWTW about five times in school. Enough so that my sister and I often quote scenes to each other; it's sad really. Some people just don't understand our fascination with it though. I'm glad ya'll do and permit me my little laughs. Smile1: Having tried on dresses that make me feel like a trussed up turkey (a.k.a. wedding dress shopping), I thought it'd go nicely in this story. Shadow: Here's more for you. GWTW does make you sigh, doesn't it? Rubberdukki: Actually, if you grow up in the South (which I did) GWTW is pop culture. It's a part of the vernacular. True it started as a book but not everybody has read it but a lot have seen the movie. Blueyed18: Thanks. Ash: Way to get detailed! Here's more for you. Spoiledgurl: Yep, figured out how to end the story while waiting almost 1.5 hours for a table at Olive Garden on V-day. LED: Again, another person with details. Ya'll totally rock. Coriel: Maybe it wasn't a cliffhanger, per say, I just left you sitting on the cliff, dangling your legs over the edge. Chinkybrowneyes: I always love your reviews. See if someone left pizza and coffee for me and I didn't know how or who did it, it'd be extravagant. Sofie Christianson: Actually I've seen the title written both ways. I know who Pushkin is, great author. Everybody seemed to get the gist of it though but I'll fix it just for you. Waful89: I swear I'm going as fast as I can. Lovelock79: I was waiting for your review. Caffo: Hey, I'm working on the references. They don't exactly pop into the story on their own.

Chapter 9: Party all the time, Party all the time, Party all the tiimmmeee!

"Paris, I'm waiting." Rory shouted at the closed door of her roommate. The door to Paris' room flew open and a very ticked Paris walked out. Rory couldn't help but laugh. Paris looked like an angry librarian. "You aren't really going to wear that, are you?"

"Since when did you become the fashion police?" Paris asked incensed.

"I'm channeling my mother. Go change, you can't wear that, you look like you're forty." It only took Rory fifty three minutes to transform Paris into a normal college student, a record breaking event. Pulling Paris by the arm out the door, Rory grinned at her friend, "Come on Space Monkey, celebrations await."

Paris narrowed her eyes at Rory. "Have you been watching television again?" Rory had the decency to duck her head.

By the time they made it too the party, it had overflowed from one floor to a whole building. Beer was spilled making the tiles treacherous to cross and music pumped from a room on the third floor, vibrating the air.

"I am still not sure how you convinced me to come to this." Paris grumbled in Rory's ear over the deafening music.

"I have superior manipulative skills, Paris. You should know that by now." At Paris' dark look, Rory slung an arm around her shoulders, "Look, you can think of this in three ways. One, this is just a waste of time and energy and you'll only wake up in the morning hung over and smelling like smoke; two, you can use this experience to write an exposé on the underage drinking that goes on at college campuses; or three, relax and enjoy the fact that exams are over and we have a month off from school and the holidays are coming."

"I choose option one." Paris said hotly. Rory turned her best puppy dog face on her friend. "Oh, stop it. You're going to make the throw up. Fine I'll stay, but I don't have to like it." Paris crossed her arms and marched towards the room that held the bar. Rory followed behind letting herself enjoy the atmosphere. The room was more than crowded but she noticed a few familiar faces before Paris dragged her away. As they stood before the bar waiting for their first round of drinks someone's arms were slung about their shoulders and a slight slurred Australian accent began to sing.

"One round if Jose Quervo an I found my foot tappin long the beat." Rory and Paris looked at one another before turning around at the wildly grinning Finn. "Lovely ladies, thank you for attending this little soiree of mine."

"Finn, how much have you had to drink?" Rory asked.

"What time is it?" Finn asked seriously.

"About 9:30?"

"Do you want the measurement in cups, quarts, or gallons? I can do metric too!"

"Never mind Finn." Rory said not wanting to get him started.

"Come along. We should leave this den of iniquity and adjourn to more pleasant surroundings." Finn started to steer them away from the makeshift bar but Rory stopped him quickly.

"Finn, we've haven't gotten our drinks yet!"

"Oh, my apologies. You shouldn't leave alcohol unattended, it gets lonely." Finn said in a serious voice before scooping up their drinks and herding them out of the room and up to the next floor. The crowd in the common room of the second floor was only slightly more subdued than the bottom floor. A game of quarters was being set up on a ping pong table and there were several people congregated around a karaoke machine in the corner. Finn waved Colin over from a group of guys watching TV. "Colin, look who's here! It's Rory! And her lovely roommate, Paris."

"Paris, Rory. I didn't think you attended these sort of things." Colin said genuinely surprised at their appearance.

"I'm here against my will." Paris filled in quickly. "This was completely Gilmore's idea. Something about celebrating the end of finals and the holidays. I don't know why we celebrate we are just going to do it all again in four months and it's a cycle we will repeat for the next two years. Big woop."

"You know," Colin began, "doctors will agree that if stress is not relieved in some manner, the body will eventually crash. Activities such as partying and sex are proven stress relievers."

"I've got that covered, thanks." Paris said frowning at Colin who only grinned back her. The group settled on to a nearby couch, Rory perched on the arm when a loud voice over rode all the noise in the room.

"HEY, everybody! I'm here!" The Asian girl shouted from the door before being propelled into the room by the boy behind her. The obviously intoxicated girl gathered the person closest to her into a hug. The poor boy looked positively mortified. Finn leaned close to Rory and whispered at her conspiratorially.

"That's Tarah Feldman, whatever you do, don't cross paths with her. She's one of those kids who was adopted and their parents didn't want to suppress them so she basically got away with murder during high school. She has a kid, somewhere, but she parties more than I do. She is under the misconception that Logan belongs to her. No matter how much he ignores her, insults her, or throws her out, she just keeps coming back. Much like a bad case of heartburn. Oh yeah, she also holds the reigning title of 'Yale's Best Ho' so you get the idea."

"I'll keep all that information in mind. She does look kinda scary." Rory looked down at her empty cup a little forlornly. "My cups empty."

Finn jumped to his feet, yelling at people to make way, he had to get the woman a drink. Four hours later, the majority of the party had migrated to different parts of the building and Rory had been snagged into a game of asshole. She was currently the President and had just made Colin take a drink. With enough alcohol it really was a fun game. Her brain had become nice and fuzzy so when Sarah's shriek broke through the air, her head shot up in surprise.

"Logan, oh I am so glad you are here. These people are sooooo boring." Tarah purred as she sidled up to Logan who was standing in the door way. He wasn't watching her though. As far as he was concerned the only other person in the room was Rory. There she was bracketed by his two best friends. Logan looked down at the girl who had attached herself to his arm like a limpet. It was going to be a long night and he wasn't even drunk yet. Logan pulled away from Tarah and headed towards the bar where he was quickly met by Colin and a drink. Colin whispered something quickly in his ear before returning to the game.

Rory looked around in vain for Paris. Every nerve in her body was screaming for her to run out of the building like it was on fire but her heart was telling her that if she stayed her and was quiet she would get to see Logan and that would make it all worth while. She turned to Finn and asked, "Hey, where'd Paris go?"

"I believe she received a call from someone an hour ago and left in quite a hurry. Looked awfully excited about it."

"Well, that'd be Doyle who called."

"Newspaper Doyle?"

"The one and only."

"That's interesting."

"Sometimes the weirdest people get paired together."

"Don't I know it." Finn knocked back the rest of his drink and rose to get refills for everyone as per the rules of the game. Logan was still waiting by the bar when Finn stopped beside him. "Hey there buddy, isn't that taking things a bit fast." Finn said quickly as he watched Logan knock back a shot of whiskey.

"Somehow, tonight I don't think so." Logan responded dully.

"I think if you want to stay, she'd be okay with it. Just don't do anything stupid."

"No problem, I'm just going to sit over here and drink." Logan drank another shot. "I'll be fine watching the woman I love ignore me."

"Are these the first drinks you've had tonight?" Finn asked surprised by his friends disclosure.

"No, not at all. I decimated the liquor cabinet in our room before I came." Logan said proud of himself. Finn could only nod his head, astounded by Logan's behavior. Logan never drank that much, never. That was Finn's job to get completely plastered and say unusual things. It never should have gotten to this level, Finn thought as he returned to his seat next to Rory. She accepted the cup and quickly gulped down the contents. Her eyes never left Logan and his spot in the corner. Suddenly, Rory leaned over to Finn, her eyes slightly glazed, a hand covering her yawn.

"Finn, can I tell you a secret?" Rory asked in a whisper. Finn looked at Rory carefully, the poor girl was so drunk, there was no telling what she was going to say.

"Sure, lovie, what's on your mind?"

"Finn, you know all that stuff I said at the ball to Logan about how I didn't love him and all that?"

"Uh huh."

"I lied."

"You did?" Finn said feigning surprise.

"Yep, I did love him. I do love him. Isn't that the strangest thing you've ever heard?" Rory said with a lopsided smile before passing out against Finn's shoulder.

"Well," Finn said turning to the other players. "It appears that our esteemed leader has taken her leave of us. Please continue on in her honor, I am sure that's what she would have wanted you to do." With surprising agility, Finn lifted himself off the floor and without jostling Rory, picked her up and headed for the door. He was intercepted by Logan who had a steely look in his eyes.

"Is she okay? What did you do to her?"

"She's fine, just had too much to drink. A point you are quickly approaching, I might add."

"Where are you taking her?" Logan said softly realizing that criticizing his friend was not a good move.

"I was going to take her back to her dorm." Finn said slowly like he was explaining something to a child.

"No, you'll run into the security and how will you explain a passed out girl who smells like alcohol."

"What is your suggestion then, O Wise One?" Finn said sarcastically.

"Put her in our room. It's quiet and she can sleep it off there." Logan replied. "Here give her to me and you can get the door."

"I'm not sure how well she would like that."

"She'll never know and it'll make me feel better. You're my friend right? You want me to be happy, right?"

Finn sighed knowing he'd been beat and carefully shifted Rory over to Logan's arms. Logan pulled her protectively against him and pressed his face against her hair. He followed Finn out the door and down the hall to their own rooms. When he slipped into his room, it was dark and quiet. Finn pulled back the covers on Logan's bed and left the room with a final look over his shoulder at his two friends. Logan carefully pulled off Rory's shoes and tucked her legs under the covers. He knelt down beside her, pulling the covers up and smoothing them over her small frame. Brushing stray wisps of hair off her forehead, Logan leaned down and softly kissed her cheek. In her sleep Rory sighed and rolled toward Logan.

"Rory, I'd give anything for you to hear me right now. I can't believe that I've sunk so low that the only time I can talk to you is when you are asleep and can't protest. I never thought I'd miss you this much. I thought I could handle not being around you but I was wrong. Ace, I am so sorry. More sorry than I can even say. I can't explain why I did it, all I can do is regret it. You probably hate me. I can't say that I blame you. You have every right. Rory, I just…I want you to know…I love you." Logan finished on a quiet note. He kissed her forehead again and rose form the floor, knowing that if she woke up with him staring at her it wouldn't be pleasant. Logan gently shut the door to his room and crashed on the couch outside.

The dawn was just breaking when Logan finally fell asleep. Hours later, the alcohol had taken it's toll and he was dead to the world. Rory, however, was waking up with a massive headache. She looked around carefully. She was in a strangers room, the unintoxicated voice in her head said. No, she corrected it, I'm in a strange boy's room. Or not so strange, as she stopped a familiar jacket draped over a chair. As things came into focus, more things became familiar and the more terrified she got. She searched her memory for what happened the previous evening. She remember drinking, far too much, and Logan coming into the common room but everything after that was a big blur. She cradled her aching head in her hands, as fears assaulted her. What could she have done? Did they sleep together, fight, what? It was then that she realized that she was fully dressed except for her shoes which were sitting neatly at the end of the bed. Heaving a huge sigh of relief, Rory slowly climbed from the bed. When the room started to spin, she grabbed onto the nearby desk for support. Her hand brushed a picture frame. She had to sit when she recognized the two people in the photo. Her and Logan, just after the jump; he was holding her hand and smiling at her and she was smiling right back. He had kept this, why? Determined now to get out of here before making anymore disturbing revelations, Rory stumbled from the room and after fumbling with the door, managed to lurch into the common room. The door to Colin's room was open wide enough for her to see him sleeping soundly in his bed. Finn hadn't made it that far, he was occupying the threshold of his room, his tall body stretched out across the floor. On the couch was Logan. He looked uncomfortable smashed into the small couch. Rory shivered in the cool morning air as someone had turned on the AC during the night. Sighing at her own stupidity, Rory walked carefully to the couch and picked up the blanket off the back. She draped it over Logan's torso and drifted her fingers across his cheek. Tears pricked at her eyes and room stumbled around as her vision blurred. She had to get out. Thankfully the door knob turned easily under her hands and she was out the door and down the hall as the tears streamed freely down her face.

Home, she had to get home. Her momma could fix all of this.

AN: After writing this chapter, it seemed a little OOC for Logan and Rory. But I'm chalking it up to stress and alcohol. Even the strongest people will break when they can't take it anymore. Also, I in no way support underage drinking. If you don't know how to play quarters, google it. I'm not contributing to the delinquency of minors. I probably won't post again, the final chapter, until Monday or Tuesday. I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. There are two references in this one. If you grew up in the 80's or watched VH1's I love the 80's you'll catch the first one but the second, well you have to be a freak like me to get. Also, Tarah Feldman is not a real person but is based off a girl I knew in high school who could teach the hookers in Tijuana a lesson or two.